Thursday, November 26, 2009
THE impacts of climate change on health are a "very real and present danger", British health secretary Andy Burnham warned yesterday at the launch of a report on how rising temperatures will affect the public.
The study, published ahead of next month’s UN talks on tackling climate change, is calling on health ministers and professionals around the world to recognise the danger global warming poses to health.
But putting health at the centre of action on climate change could deliver twin benefits of preventing illness and cutting emissions, the report from the Lancet said.
Changes in transport to cut carbon from vehicles could reduce urban air pollution, which can cause heart and breathing problems, and physical inactivity which contributes to obesity. Insulating houses could reduce the number of deaths from extremes of cold and hot weather and reducing the amount of meat people eat will cut the impact of livestock on the climate while also cutting saturated fat in the diet.
Burnham said: "Health ministers across the globe must act now to highlight the risk global warming poses to our communities. We need well-designed climate change policies that drive health benefits."
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said an ambitious deal to cut climate emissions needed to be reached at the climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
"To protect the world’s health we must stop dangerous climate change happening and limit temperature increases to no more than 2C.
"An ambitious and fair deal in Copenhagen will not only have major benefits in terms of reducing the climate change-related spread of infectious diseases and risks to food supply, but will also result in immediate green benefits in terms of a healthier environment and lifestyle for a low-carbon Britain — and a low-carbon world," he said.
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